The total revenue of the top-10 telecom groups reached US$709.1bn in 2011, an increase of nearly 8% from the year before. The top-10 telecom groups’ cumulated revenue represents about 44% of the total of the 243 monitored telecom groups worldwide. Half of the groups in the ranking are European operators — with Spain’s Telefónica ranking 5th, the largest among the European groups; two are North American (with AT&T placing 2nd), two are Asian (with MI&IT China topping the list) and one from Latin America – Mexico-based Grupo Carso settling at 9th place. The five European operators represent about 16% of the total telecom market in 2011, a decreasing share over the last years, in favour of the Asia operators, representing over 13% (increasing from 2008) and 11.8% for the two American operators (12.0% in 2008).

Top-10 groups represent more than a third of the global telecoms revenue in 2011

Outlook: Top-10 groups to remain generally intact while economic uncertainty still a major concern